Max Homa has heaped praise upon Chris Gotterup after the youngster posted a 62 on Sunday at the John Deere Classic to claim his third PGA Tour title of the season.
Gotterup probably teed off on Sunday with little expectation of having any chance of emerging victorious at TPC Deere Run.
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He began the day five shots off the lead. However, Gotterup produced the round of the week to move to 20 under par for the tournament and pile the pressure on the likes of Homa and Ben Kohles.
Max Homa reacts to Chris Gotterup beating him to the John Deere Classic crown
Unfortunately for Homa, he was unable to make the birdie he needed on the last to move alongside Gotterup at the top of the leaderboard.
And when Kohles found the water on the 72nd hole and was subsequently unable to hole a putt for par, it was confirmed that Gotterup had his third victory of the year.
Of course, it is nearly a year since Gotterup took his career to another level by winning the Scottish Open and then finishing third at The Open Championship.
And while Homa admitted that he was slightly frustrated to not catch him on Sunday, he insisted that he was extremely happy for Gotterup.
“I had a good chance to catch him. He just played better,” he said.
“He’s a phenomenal golfer. I obviously tip my cap in reality, but that’s not exactly how I felt out there. It was nice, honestly, to have him go out there and post a number and get going because my goal to start Saturday was to get to 20, and he got there quicker than I thought. So that was just nice to see.
“Yeah, he’s obviously a phenomenal golfer. I got to play with him yesterday. He’s like the nicest dude, too. Very happy with the way he played. I had my chances. I just needed to be a little sharper.”
Homa delighted as he registers a second top 10 finish on the PGA Tour this season
With Gotterup already having two victories this season, it is probably fair to say that the result was even more significant in Homa’s year.
He is set to move inside the top 50 in the FedEx Cup standings having started the week in 72nd. Clearly, that will be a big boost as he looks to book his ticket to the playoffs later in the year.
Homa’s only top 10 of the season before this week had come at The Masters. So it is no surprise that he was delighted to perform so well in Illinois.
“Yeah, it’s great. This crowd is just incredible. They’re so kind to me, and it’s so fun. I love the golf course,” he said.
“I never really had played well at a place where you got to go deep to win or to contend. Maybe this is the one spot I could figure that out at.
“I usually avoid places where the scores are 20-under, but it suits my game really nicely. I feel like I’ve done a good job with reading the greens here, too, which is a bonus.”
Homa will hope that he follows in Gotterup’s footsteps from last year, and uses a positive result at this stage of the season as a springboard to bigger and much better things.
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